New Revelations Reignite Crypto Scandal Involving Argentina's President Milei (nytimes.com) 37
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: President Javier Milei of Argentina promoted a cryptocurrency last year that quickly skyrocketed in value then cratered just as fast, costing investors millions of dollars and setting off a scandal and an investigation. Mr. Milei said he was simply highlighting a private venture and had no connection to the digital coin called $Libra. New evidence is now raising questions about his assertion. Phone logs from a federal investigation by Argentine prosecutors into the coin's collapse show seven phone calls between Mr. Milei and one of the entrepreneurs behind the cryptocurrency on the night in 2025 when Mr. Milei posted about $Libra on X. The contents of the calls, which took place before and after Mr. Milei's post, are not known.
But the phone logs -- which were obtained by The New York Times and first reported by a local cable news channel, C5N -- suggest a greater degree of communication between Mr. Milei and the entrepreneurs who launched the token than what the president has publicly acknowledged. Newly uncovered messages also suggest Mr. Milei received regular payments from one of the entrepreneurs while he was a congressman. Mr. Milei has not publicly commented on the call logs and other documents, and he did not respond to a request for comment. He is named as a person of interest in the federal prosecutor's continuing investigation into the digital coin, according to court documents reviewed by The Times, but has not been formally charged with any crime. The latest revelations have revived a scandal that threatens the very foundation of a president who rose to power and was elected president in 2023 by attacking a political class he called corrupt.
But the phone logs -- which were obtained by The New York Times and first reported by a local cable news channel, C5N -- suggest a greater degree of communication between Mr. Milei and the entrepreneurs who launched the token than what the president has publicly acknowledged. Newly uncovered messages also suggest Mr. Milei received regular payments from one of the entrepreneurs while he was a congressman. Mr. Milei has not publicly commented on the call logs and other documents, and he did not respond to a request for comment. He is named as a person of interest in the federal prosecutor's continuing investigation into the digital coin, according to court documents reviewed by The Times, but has not been formally charged with any crime. The latest revelations have revived a scandal that threatens the very foundation of a president who rose to power and was elected president in 2023 by attacking a political class he called corrupt.
This is why Trump loves him. (Score:5, Insightful)
Birds of a feather...
Re:This is why Trump loves him. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is why Trump loves him. (Score:5, Insightful)
And who does Bessent work for? Do you really believe el Bunko didn't sign off on it. I doubt it was his idea since he never has any original ideas of his own. Stop white washing el Bunko, everything he touches has the taint of corruption.
Re: This is why Trump loves him. (Score:5, Insightful)
You enjoying those gasoline prices?
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(X) doubt
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Re:This is why Trump loves him. (Score:5, Insightful)
So Trump loves him (Score:2, Interesting)
Argentina went a little crazy on the rent control without building public housing. Those two things aren't compatible. If you are going to do rent control you have to back it up with subsidies or direct public housing or you're going to have supplies shortages. Which they did.
On top of that droughts have absolutely wrecked Argentina's economy because it's mostly agrarian. It's a modern agrarian economy mind
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Yes, it's not like Trump and his family haven't done the exact same thing with crypto, nope, totally different.
But I'm intrigued, you say most democrats are stupider than Trump. You can't say such an extraordinary claim without proof. I need names with examples, lots of examples. Lots. Because I have so many examples of the stupidest thing nobody could even have invented, to compare them with.
Meanwhile, has the war been won yet, he said it was won as soon as he started it, but it's still there. I don't know
Re:Meanwhile no one spoke up about Biden payments (Score:4, Insightful)
No we aren't. There wasn't any.
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Go ahead and post some links to investigations. I'll check back.
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Well that settles it. I’m certainly not voting for Hunter Biden!
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Do you have any idea how pathetic that bullshit sounds in the time of golden ballrooms and golden arches ? (not to mention trying to fix his stupid war with "open the straits you bastards" and "a whole civilization will die")
It was too obvious (Score:3, Interesting)
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Crypto Is For Crime! (Score:5, Interesting)
Now with "wrench attacks" [archive.ph] as XKCD informed us all of years ago.
Complete with wrench attack gangs whose real leaders are offshore directing their minions over phones using voice disguisers!
Just an added twist with all the crooked exchanges, holding companies and ATM machines. [cnn.com]
Without strict world-wide regulation the only good move is not to play. Unless you run the the exchange and created the crypto.
Read how Crypto is the crime enabler: Number Go Up! [wikipedia.org]
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No, it's not. Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
It's a guy who tried to pay a freelancer he hired. Hours after he wired the money, his bank contacted him and told him his transaction was canceled, and his account had to be closed. and the bank "legally couldn't tell him why".
I know it's easy to say such things from a "first world country where things work", but there are things out there that don't work. Sending money abroad is a headache. Always. Because governments DO NOT like money movin
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Just a minor consideration to add to the above.
Your bank could be legally obliged to block the transfer if the target country is on the FATF black list or grey list. Money transfers to those countries are considered to carry an increased risk of terrorist funding and/or money laundering. The list is not long, and it is updated three times a year (and yes, Ghana has been on the grey list, although not anymore, I believe).
I am sure there are perfectly valid non-criminal use cases for crypto but circumventing
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In the US, money laundering is a crime. Purchasing illegal drugs online using Crypto is a crime. But, of course Trump also pardoned the properly FBI captured and imprisoned leader of the Silk Road. [wikipedia.org]
Countries are permitted to make and enforce their laws. Whatever they may be.
Binance [wikipedia.org] is in trouble for laundering money AGAIN. The same crime the CEO was sent to prison for. Sure, he was pardoned by Trump, but that was so he could assist the Trump family in creating their Crypto coins and exchanges.
If you want to
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Yes but bank decisions are arbitrary and you have no recourse. They will cut off all communications from you. They won't tell you which rule you broke, and will refuse to talk to you on the phone. The bank WILL terminate your account, and in many cases keep your money (suspected of being "dirty"), unless you sue them. You can't present any paperwork. No, you have to go through the justice system.
All of this in the name of "compliance". Many times, it's not even required, they just do it "just in case". They
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To expand on my previous answer: You're assuming this was an attempt at "circumventing international restrictions". The problem is: we don't know. The bank won't tell and they say "we are not allowed to tell you why". This is ridiculous, this goes against the most absolutely basic concept of any justice systems: laws must be known. There are no "secret laws" that you may be breaking. But in
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To expand on my previous answer: You're assuming this was an attempt at "circumventing international restrictions". The problem is: we don't know. The bank won't tell and they say "we are not allowed to tell you why". This is ridiculous, this goes against the most absolutely basic concept of any justice systems: laws must be known. There are no "secret laws" that you may be breaking. But in this case, there are.
And btw, if you ever try to make an international wire transfer, the bank will, first of all, ask "destination country". If the country is in a black list, you shouldn't be allowed to click "send money". If the country is in a grey list, the bank should ask you for "more compliance documentation". But NOT just close your account with your money in it.
There are a number of known US laws about international and domestic money transfers. All transactions over $10,000 are reported to the government. The banks, brokerages and exchanges are also required to "know their clients" and report suspicious transactions. If the client won't provide the necessary information the company holding the money may close the account. And the feds may seize the money.
The Crypto best use case is as more opaque (but not completely opaque) way to transfer a current Crypto valua
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so you're talking about reporting and I'm talking about the fact that a bank closed an account unilaterally
I understand you're left wing, pro-government control, etc but this is not about giving more power to the government. this is about a BANK unilaterally deciding to close an account because they can't be bothered to "comply" with what you're talking.
There are also more "grey" uses for crypto. Until 2 years ago Argentina was under severe exchange controls, criminalizing the exchange of the rapidly devalu